


The Golden Arrow

by rabid_plotbunny



Category: Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, CQL-Verse, Established Relationship, Gen, M/M, Post-Series, crack!fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:21:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28121544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rabid_plotbunny/pseuds/rabid_plotbunny
Summary: Post-Untamed, Wei Ying returns to Cloud Recesses in the company of some junior disciples, injured and laughing.
Relationships: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Comments: 10
Kudos: 113





	The Golden Arrow

**Author's Note:**

> Set in Untamed-verse (aka. Wei Ying comes back in his old body instead of taking over Mo's)

It had been a relatively calm few months in the Cloud Recesses since he'd returned after Wei Ying had left him on that mountain to go on his voyage of self-discovery, or adventure, or whatever he had thought was important enough that he had to seek it out _there_ somewhere instead of safely back home beginning his life with Lan Wangji. With A-Yuan out on his own adventures with his newfound uncle Wen Ning, the Cloud Recesses had an aura of peace and tranquility that had been lacking from the moment Wei Wuxian first broke through the wards and climbed the compound wall with two pots of forbidden alcohol that he promptly tried to use to bribe Wangji to look the other way. People walked calmly, spoke quietly and formally, even the birds seemed to chirp and sing at a respectfully low volume.

It was driving him mad.

And wasn't _that_ a shock? Prior to his involvement with Wei Ying, he had always preferred the calm, almost meditative silence and solitude to any company save that of his brother. Now, however....

Now, he found himself straining his ears, trying uselessly to hear the return of his heart. Too soon really, he knew it in his head. He himself had needed time to cope with the events since his love's resurrection, and had still been in mourning white at the end of the sixteen years he'd been dead, having still not entirely recovered from _that_.

Wei Ying... He had mentioned that he had no memory of the time he'd spent dead. So for him all those earlier events would still have been fresh and raw, un-dealt-with even as the more recent hastened to pile up on top.

Yes, months was much too optimistic a timeline for recovery.

Knowing that didn't stop him from listening for that longed-for return, however. He could even swear that he could hear faint echoes of that long-missed laughter echoing between silent trees.

Wait.

 _Wait_.

Lan Wangji, respected scholar and Chief Cultivator, heir to the Gusu Lan sect after his older brother, dropped his brush as he stood abruptly. The brush fell with an inky splat on the document he'd been writing, spoiling hours of work, but he didn't notice. Already at the doors of the _jingshi_ , he barely dared to hope....

That familiar laughter kept getting louder, nearer, banishing the dead foggy silence of the Cloud Recesses like the stubborn ray of sunshine its owner had once been back before everything went wrong. Back when he would laugh and tease and slip forbidden lewd artwork into Lan Wangji's books just to see him blush and throw what passed for a fit.

Wei Ying...?

And then there he was, being carried on a stretcher by a couple of helplessly amused juniors, one knee swathed in thick bandages, the leg kept elevated on his pack of belongings even as he laughed so hard his face was red and his eyes streaming. He would pause every few seconds to clutch his side with a pained " _ow! ow! ow!_ " before the helpless, contagious (if the juniors' twitching lips and bright eyes were anything to go by) laughter began again.

"Wei Ying!"

Seeing him standing there in the doorway, the junior disciples hurried their pace as much as they dared while carrying the injured man. They followed Wangji into the _jingshi_ , got their passenger settled on the bed in what had once been an unused guest room, then A-Yuan's until he moved into the dormitories.

"Lan Zhan!" Wei Wuxian crowed as the juniors beat a hasty retreat once their charge was safely delivered. "Lan Zhan! You won't believe what happened!"

Lan Wangji settled on Wei Ying's bedside, taking the offered hand in both of his own even as his eyes drank in the sight of the one they'd been missing for far too long and his heart filled with warmth. "Wei Ying, you came back."

"Of course I came back. I told you I would. I just didn't expect it would be like this. Lan Zhan, it... it's..." The helpless laughter took over once again.

Wangji felt his own lips twitch involuntarily in response, then shook his head. "Wei Ying... are you under some sort of laughing curse?"

That seemed to make the other man laugh even harder. "What? No! Lan _Zhan!_ "

"Then what happened? You are wounded. Why are you laughing?"

"Lan Zhan! You will never believe what happened!"

The white-clad man took a moment to give his unexpected — but certainly not unwanted! — guest another once-over. Beside the bandaging at his knee, he was looking well. No longer starvation-thin, though not quite up to the weight he should be for his size. No other visible wounds or bandaging — though with Wei Ying that was no true indicator. He looked... well. Very well. In fact, he hadn't had that kind of healthy glow about him since before....

He scrambled for the hand he held — for the presented wrist — despite knowing that the damage that had been done, that had unwittingly precipitated his downfall in his first life, was irreparable....

The impossible thrummed beneath his fingers; warm and alive and _whole_.

"Wei Ying..." he didn't know how he got the words past the sudden tightness in his throat.

"I have no idea how it happened," his heart replied. "I was on a night-hunt with some sect babies I had crossed paths with; just a simple mischievous spirit, nothing dangerous. I still have no idea where the arrow came from. All of a sudden it just came out of nowhere, slammed into my knee, and then _boom!_ Brand new impossible golden core, and _Chenqing_ burned my hand. Good thing the babies were able to take care of that spirit, you know I haven't carried _Suibian_ with me in years. I'm going to have to practice my sword forms again...."

"This is..." Lan Wangji trailed off, unable to find the words. Impossible, amazing, wonderful, inconceivable... none seemed to express the depth of the change this would bring to their lives.

"Hmm," Wei Wuxian hummed in reply, eyes still shining with the joy of having a core again, of being whole for the first time in years. A glint of mischief sparked to life, familiar and long-missed. "There's just one thing."

"Hm?"

"The juniors that were with me. People have been recognizing me and asking them what happened."

That... could be of some concern, depending on what young minds had decided was the appropriate response to the question. "I could talk to them—"

"Nah, they're fine. They—" the laughter made a reappearance. "They've been telling people... telling them... _'He was a demonic cultivator, then he took an arrow to the knee. Cleared it right up!'_ "

Lan Zhan's free hand rose to cover his face in exasperation only seconds before his laughter joined Wei Ying's.

END

**Author's Note:**

> Dear gods, my brain is a scary place sometimes, lol! I have no idea where this came from, but I hope you liked it! Comments are love! 🐇🐇 🥰


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